Shares of Ocwen Financial ran up 8.9% in premarket trade Monday, after the company announced a deal to sell a $9.8 billion portfolio of mortgage servicing rights to Nationstar Mortgage . The deal, which consists of 81,000 performing loans owned by Freddie Mac , is expected to close by March 31. "This transaction represents the first step in the execution of our previously-announced strategy to transfer certain types of non-strategic servicing," said Ocwen Chief Executive Ronald Faris. Nationstar's stock was indicated 1% higher in premarket trade. Ocwen's stock has tumbled 59% over the past three months through Friday, compared with a 2.3% gain in the S&P 500.